ABC Coast FM at Reality Writes this weekend

Visit the Reality Writes - readers' and writers' weekend festival to hear authors talk about their published works and take part in panel discussions.

You can also find the author in you by participating in writing workshops.

The Reality Writes - Truth about Nonfiction festival will be held at the Cooroy Library from the 22-24 July, 2011.

Annie Gaffney and ABC Coast FM will be there to broadcast live from the festival this Saturday from 10am-2pm - so drop by and say hello and hear what the line-up of visiting authors have to say about their books, craft and the future of nonfiction writing.

This year's twenty invited authors and industry experts include Anna Krien who will discuss her first book, Into the Woods: the battle for Tasmania's Forests; Elisabeth Wynhausen, with her latest book is The Short Goodbye and Melina Marchetta whose first novel was Looking For Alibrandi and has a further five books under her belt.

Tamil Tigress at this year's Reality Writes: Terrible things happen in civil war and this year the Reality Writes festival asks whether in a world of political propaganda and an overload of often ill-informed communications, can we ever really understand what drives ordinary people to take up arms against other human beings?

Niromi de Soyza is not an ordinary person. A survivor of the perils of war, illness and starvation, Niromi will be the keynote speaker at the launch of the 2011 Reality Writes festival - and her memoir Tamil Tigress will be launched at the event.

In 1987, 17-year old Niromi shocked her middle-class Sri Lankan family by joining the Tamil Tigers. Equipped with a rifle and cyanide capsule, she was one of the rebels' first female soldiers.

Since 1948 when Sri Lanka became independent, successive governments adopted policies that gave preference to the majority Sinhalese at the expense of the minority Sri Lankan Tamils. By the eighties, many militant groups had formed and in July 1983, the world became aware of the orgy of violence that is now known as Black July. Several reports included in a recent United Nations claim the violence amounted to acts of genocide.

The festival will delve into the debate to ask how a well-educated, mixed-race, middle-class girl from a respectable family came to be fighting with the Tamil Tigers.

Reality Writes director Annette Hughes says all will be revealed when Niromi tells her compelling story.

"Tamil Tigress is about teenage idealism, staying true to one's beliefs, realising the futility of violence and dealing with the heartache of leaving one's homeland to resettle in a foreign country. In Niromi's case, that is Australia and we are delighted that she is available to speak at the festival," says Annette.

The Environment at this year's Reality Writes: Local conservation activist Jennifer Parkhurst will appear in conversation with journalist Nathan Evans who has championed her cause since she first crossed swords with authorities over her feeding of dingos on Fraser Island. Jennifer was convicted and fined $40,000, and as a result of her very public case, was made the subject of an ABC TV Australian Story. Hear Jennifer talk about her ordeal and her fight to save the K'gari (Fraser Is) dingo population.

Tasmania's Forests at this year's Reality Writes: Also on the program is Anna Krien, prize winning author of Into the Woods: the battle to save Tasmania's Forests. For many years, the Tasmanian wilderness has been the site of a fierce struggle. At stake is the future of old-growth forests. Loggers and police face off with protesters deep in the forest, while savage political games are played in the courts and parliaments. Anna Krien, armed with a notebook, a sleeping bag and a rusty sedan, ventured behind the battle lines to see what it is like to risk everything for a cause. She speaks to protestors and Premiers, saw millers and whistle-blowers. She investigates personalities and convictions, methods and motives and in her book tells about a company that wanted its way and the resistance that eventually forced it to change.

Niromi de Soyza is not an ordinary person. A survivor of the perils of war, illness and starvation, Niromi will be the keynote speaker at the launch of the 2011 Reality Writes festival - and her memoir Tamil Tigress will be launched at the event.
(photo supplied)